This recording features John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe and was taped by McCartney's brother Mike in Liverpool in April 1960. According to Elrod, "A group of kids just out of high school
were sitting around jamming on old standards. The four had no idea they would someday evolve into The Beatles."
Four years before, Lennon had formed his Quarry-Men skiffle group while attending Quarry Bank School in Liverpool. Interestingly, skiffle rock derived from rural hillbilly music where musicians used commonplace items
like washboards to produce their music. Lennon kept his group intact after entering the Liverpool Art Institute, even though group members changed from time to time. Among the persons who came and went were Eric Griffiths on guitar, Ron Davis on banjo, Ivan Vaughn and Nigel Whalley on tea chest bass, Pete Shotton on washboard, Colin Hanton and Len Barry on drums, John Lowe on piano and Ken Brown on guitar.
With the addition of Paul McCartney in 1957 and George Harrison in 1958, The Quarry-Men played local school lunches, and at one point did a gig at The Cavern, then a prominent jazz hangout. Towards the end of 1959, The Quarry-Men dwindled down to three guitars, John, Paul, and George.
Stuart Sutcliffe became a member of The Quarry-Men in January 1960. A student at the Art Institute, Sutcliffe was persuaded by Lennon to buy a guitar with money Sutcliffe received from a painting he sold at a local art gallery exhibit. Sutcliffe was not musically inclined, not even familiar with the basic chords and was in the quartet soley because he was Lennon's friend. But the addition brought the quartet to that which recorded the
soon-to-be-released tape.